Quisumbing Torres Participates in Cebu's Taxation Expert Talk

Quisumbing Torres (QT) participated in Mandaue Chamber of Commerce's Time to Act - Expert Talk on Taxation in the Philippines on 23 November 2017.

The dinner event was organized by DBS Private Bank and International Planning Group Insurance Brokers, Ltd. and was attended by the city's top decision makers.

Kristine Anne Mercado-Tamayo, Associate of QT's Tax Practice Group, discussed the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI). The CRS is a type of information exchange of data between different jurisdictions on a global scale in order to share information on the assets of residents in different countries.

Also known as the Global Account Tax Compliance Act (GATCA), it is the "global version" of the United States' Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), a federal law that promotes cross border tax compliance by implementing an international standard for the automatic exchange of information related to US taxpayers. The CRS was developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2014 in order to reduce and prevent offshore tax evasion.

"While the Philippines has not officially adopted the CRS, we can expect the Philippine government to follow the global trend. The Tax Reform Act, which is expected to pass into law by January 2018, expands the authority of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to inquire into bank deposit accounts and other related information held by financial institutions, in line with the CRS,” explained Kristine.

Kristine also provided an overview of the Key Considerations in Tax Planning, Philippine Estate Taxation, and Wealth Planning.

Other key speakers in the event were Tony Yam of the International Planning Group Insurance Brokers, Ltd, who also tackled Wealth Planning and Aaron Aw of Disteleria Limtuaco, who conducted a Whisky Master Class for the attendees.

Rotary Club of Cebu 19th Weekly Meeting & Fellowship

Kristine also attended the Rotary Club of Cebu's 19th Weekly Meeting & Fellowship and participated as a speaker on Taxation in the Philippines. She discussed the Global Move to Transparency and Information Exchange and the Philippine's positioning to adopt the global trend.

Quisumbing Torres' Tax Practice

Under the leadership of QT’s Practice Group Head Dennis Dimagiba, the firm ranks Tier 1 in the recently concluded Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2018. Tax Associate Kristine Anne Mercado-Tamayo is included in Legal 500’s list of Next Generation Lawyers. The practice group and lawyers consistently gain recognition in key legal researches including International Tax Review, Chambers Asia Pacific, and AsiaLaw. Both tax partners, Dennis Dimagiba and Ronald Bernas, were cited as Tax Controversy Leaders in the Philippines for 2017. The practice group continuously shares its expertise through forums, training sessions and conferences.